


In the Greatest City in the World

by Flora_Obsidian



Series: 177(6) Inspired [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: 177(6) verse, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Gen, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 21:21:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7817755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flora_Obsidian/pseuds/Flora_Obsidian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex had heard people describe the feeling of remembering one's memories as deja vu, which he supposed worked as an apt description, except for the fact that it was wrong. It was disorienting, sure, but deja vu was more like feeling like you were repeating things, like you'd already lived the situation you were currently in, not literally remembering the things you'd already lived.</p><p>Now, though? This was totally deja vu.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Greatest City in the World

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Yes We Get It, You're A Patriot](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7160525) by [ashilrak](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashilrak/pseuds/ashilrak). 



> If someone had told me last year I'd be writing fanfiction about the founding fathers, I wouldn't have believed them, and yet here we are. 
> 
> Inspired by the lovely kookookarli's 177(6) universe, a modern AU in which reincarnation is considered normal. It's a chat-fic (from which most of the messages in this are lifted from) and absolutely hilarious, so go check it out!
> 
> \- - -
> 
> In which Alex is excited, Paul is emotional, Hercules suspects something is up, and John just wants someone to explain what exactly is going on.

Alex had heard people describe the feeling of remembering one's memories as deja vu, which he supposed worked as an apt description, except for the fact that it was wrong. It was disorienting, sure, but deja vu was defined as feeling like you were repeating things, like you'd already lived the situation you were currently in, not literally remembering the things you'd already lived.

Now, though? This was totally deja vu.

The fabric of his jeans rustled, his leg bouncing up and down rapidly; it was earning him a rather irritated look from the passenger next to him on the plane, but Alex didn't care. It wasn't like he could control it, not between the anxiety and the rather large amount of caffeine he had consumed on the flight from St. Croix to Miami and the subsequent flight from Miami to _here_. To _New York_.

He was going to _New York City_.

And _that_ was the deja vu, that was the reason for his anxiety and his excitement and his anticipation all rolled up into one big mess of emotions- here he was, headed for new opportunity, dredging himself up poverty in St. Croix to attend Columbia on a full scholarship on nothing but his own talent, ready to walk into a world that would gladly walk all over him unless he stood up and _worked_ for what he knew he could achieve.

It was what he'd done as Hamilton, after all. And here he was, ready to do it all over again.

(They'd raised the money; he had just been able to scrape up enough cash to submit his college applications, forgetting he'd need to buy a plane ticket, and once he was accepted to Columbia there were just _so many people_ willing to do what they could to help him get there.)

New York!

The plane was coming in to land just as the sun was rising (overnight flights were less expensive, after all), glittering off the water and the steel buildings reaching up to scrape the belly of the sky, all golds and pinks and oranges and _bright_ , and he honestly thought he might cry. His city, laid out underneath him, the plane gently turning as it headed for JFK, _New York_.

They couldn't land fast enough.

When they finally docked, Alex was all but bouncing in his seat (he kind of needed to pee, but mostly he was excited), and the passenger next to him looked close to committing manslaughter. He didn't particularly want to irritate someone into shooting him again, once was more than enough (damn Burr, wherever he might be), but _New York_. New York! He squeezed out of his seat and into the aisle as soon as he was able to, somehow managed to reach up and get his carry-on without falling over or dropping it on his head, all but skipped out off the plane, he was in New York!

(He'd checked the registry for reincarnations, and hadn't seen any of the people he'd known, which probably just meant they had reincarnated already and wanted to avoid the publicity, but maybe, since they had spent so much time in New York, maybe-?)

Freshman orientation started later next week, but the college was willing to let him move into the dorms a bit early; they were providing transport. Once he'd settled in (rather, once he'd put his books on a desk and his few extra clothes in a drawer), he would finally get in touch with the three other people he'd be rooming with.

“Have a nice day,” said the flight attendant as he passed her, neat uniform and a rather fixed smile on her face. Planes could do that to a person, sometimes.

He beamed back as he hurried past. “You too!”

New York was waiting.

* * *

John shut his bedroom door before opening his laptop. It wasn't that he had anything in particular to hide, it was just that his dad had a rather unnerving habit of inviting himself into John's room and being generally invasive of his privacy if the door was so much as an inch open. At least when it was closed, he got the warning of a knock before it happened.

Halfway through typing a packing list, his phone buzzed. He didn't bother looking over until it buzzed several times; he didn't exactly have many friends in South Carolina, and his dad certainly wouldn't be texting or calling, so he didn't think it was anything important. Still, the repetition was distracting, and it countered his initial decision of ignoring it.

 **Alexmill:** Hi, so I'm Alexander, and I guess we'll be rooming together. Feel free to call me Alex.

 **Hercmuel:** Yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. The name's Hercules.

John, after a moment to process (the names were unfamiliar because he hadn't met them yet; they were to be his future roommates at Columbia), replied with the first thing that came to mind.

 **Jdotlaw:** I refuse to believe that you're named after a Disney character  
Johnathan, by the way. Call me John

He was quickly reassured that one of his roommates was indeed named Hercules, yes like the Disney character, yes he did like Disney movies, but _please_ refrain from breaking out into songs from the aforementioned movie, literally everyone had been doing that for years. John found himself smiling. They didn't seem so bad, these guys. The introductions were going smoothly, which had to mean something, right?

 **Alexmill:** Dude

 **Hercmuel:** What

 **Alexmill:** Nothing

 **Jdotlaw:** wtf man

Alex seemed a bit off, especially as people kept giving names, but that was okay. John's father had named him John after his son in his old life (which was a little bit creepy, but he'd stopped questioning his father years ago); it was probably something about that, that weird sense of deja vu when something stirred up an old memory of a past experience. John didn't know much about his previous life beyond that he had been a soldier during the revolution and that he'd been involved in the abolitionist movement, but he'd always heard remembering things of a past like described as deja vu.

The fourth member of their dorm was a French exchange student named Paul- which, again, a little bit weird on the topic of names, since Paul seemed like a very _English_ sort of name, but whatever. John was just excited he would be able to speak French with someone who could actually respond, much unlike the other students in his French classes.

And they were all gay! Or- no, not gay, but gay as an umbrella term, _yes_. Paul was non-binary and pan, and Alex was pan, and Hercules was gay, and for someone who had never actually come out to anyone he was going to see in person (internet friends didn't count), John felt comfortable enough to chime in.

 **Alexmill:** guys  
I'm pan  
is this going to be a problem

 **Jdotlaw:** that was really random? But unless you're saying you're an actual frying pan, no it will not be a problem

 **Hercmuel:** nah man

 **Thefrenchiestfry:** non

 **Jdotlaw:** besides I'm hella bi

It was... nice. He had known getting out of South Carolina and out of his father's house was going to be one of the best things he'd ever done, but this? This was better than he had expected: a group of people, easy to talk to, friendly, not going to judge him for something that would quite probably get him disowned.

He glanced toward his suitcases, currently empty and sitting in the corner. There wasn't much time left in the summer before he could finally get to meet them all.

* * *

Ever since Hercules had remembered who he was in his past life, he had joked about having “spy senses” despite not remembering very much of his actual spying. It was kind of an inside joke he had with himself... which was, admittedly, a little bit sad, but Hercules Mulligan had not made it into the legends of his contemporaries, and there weren't many people who would get the humor. That was okay. Spies worked in secret.

Joke or no, he was starting to suspect something was up. He knew that his friends weren't on the register for historical reincarnation, and he knew that it probably just meant they never registered, but _Alex_ and _John_ and a maybe-Frenchman named Paul as his roommates, and Alex was acting _odd_.

Hercules studied the messages on his phone, then typed out a response.

 **Thefrenchiestfry:** my name is too long to remember, so I simply go by paul

 **Hercmuel:** r u french

 **Thefrenchiestfry:** @hercmuel why does this matter?

 **Hercmuel:** @thefrenchiestfry reasons

And the name of the group chat was 177(6), after their room number, but why add the extra six? Alex could just be a history nerd, sure, but-

 **Alexmill:** @thefrenchiestfry so what is the name that is too long to remember

 **Thefrenchiestfry:** Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette  
...Marquis de Lafayette

 **Alexmill:** PANIC

And everyone kept talking (typing, but who cares), and John was from South Carolina, and if Paul's name hadn't been enough of a clue, they had been an immigrant _before_ , and Alex was an aggressively patriotic immigrant from the Caribbean who kept typing out PANIC in increasingly convoluted ways whenever each of them revealed another fact about themselves.

And John's last name was Lawrence.

Hercules took a slow breath, looked over the messages again- if he was wrong, he was honestly probably going to cry, but he didn't _think_ he was wrong, but-

 **Hercmuel:** aight so @alexmill is a pan caribbean immigrant currently living in new york and is dying  
@jdotlaw is Johnathan Lawrence from south carolina and is bi af  
@thefrenchiestfry is actually french with a really long name, immigrated to america in a past life, and goes by paul, also uses they/them pronouns  
did I miss anything

 **Alexmill:** Im fine

 **Jdotlaw:** no ur not

 **Alexmill:** @jdotlaw ur right  
DOES NO ONE ELSE SEE IT

And he would have cried if he had been wrong, but now he was crying because he was _right_. The words blurred on the screen of his phone, and he was possibly grinning like a lunatic, but he was _right_.

* * *

Lafayette was a bit distracted by one of their sisters telling them to come downstairs for dinner, and it was difficult to pay full attention to the conversation unfolding in front of them, but they were right on the verge of remembering _something_ and why did these people seem so familiar-

“Oh, my God,” they whispered. Their sister frowned.

“...Paul?”

“I'm pretty sure my roommates are people I knew last life, tell Mama and Papa I'll be right down soon? Please?”

She took a look at their expression, then nodded. “Okay, but try and hurry! You're leaving soon, and then you won't be back to have dinner with us for _ten whole months_!”

“I'll be back for holidays-”

“ _Still_.”

Alex, a pansexual Caribbean immigrant, loud and patriotic, recognized their name (and John, and Hercules), _Alex_ -

 **Thefrenchiestfry:** IMMIGRANTS. WE GET THE JOB DONE.

 **Alexmill:** @thefrenchiestfry hell yeah we do

A wide grin spread across their face; Alexander and Hercules and John, _rooming_ together, and they were _alive_ at the same time, somehow, against all odds-! And they all remembered! At least, Alex did, and Paul did, and Hercules took a moment to get there but then he remembered, too, and John, _John_ -

 **Jdotlaw:** @alexmill u never shared ur fact

 **Alexmill:** @jdotlaw I shouldn't have to u piece of shit

 **Jdotlaw:** what have I ever done to u @alexmill

 **Alexmill:** @jdotlaw u died u fuckign asshole

It took a bit of time, and a bit of reminiscing, and a bit of Alex getting pissed off about John not remembering, and a bit of discussion on wordplay, but they all got there eventually. Paul sniffled and set their phone down on the ground to wipe their eyes; their fingers came away smudged with eyeliner, and they were still smiling, and _Alex John Hercules you're alive you're all_ ** _alive_**.

 **Alexmill:** @jdotlaw it's what started the memories

 **Jdotlaw:** how does a fucking word spark memories, I have seen so many revolutionary era films and shows and read so many biographies and such and mine are still not clear

 **Thefrenchiestfry:** wait @alexmill r u telling me that someone complained about ur writing enough that you remembered fifty years of memories

 **Alexmill:** @thefrenchiestfry IT WAS A COMPLIMENT NOT A COMPLAINT  
AND YES. BECAUSE MY HISTORY TEACHER USED IT TO DESCRIBE AN ESSAY AND I WANTED TO KNOW WHO THE FUCK HAD A WORD NAMED FOR THEM

 **Hercmuel:** @alexmill what was the essay

 **Alexmill:** it was a free-response question on jefferson's vision of an agrarian economy

Paul blinked, re-read the line, and dropped their head into their arms, laughing again. They missed their sister coming back up the stairs to their room, looking in the door, shaking her head and leaving them be for now. She hadn't gotten her memories yet, but she knew enough about reincarnation to give them space. Considering how long ago they had lived the first time around, it had been an unspoken assumption that they would most likely never meet anyone they knew then; being proved wrong was reason enough to let them take as much time as they needed.

 **Alexmill:** MY HISTORY TEACHER DESCRIBED MY ESSAY AS HAMILTONIAN

 **Jdotlaw:** wtf what does that even mean

 **Thefrenchiestfry:** wait for it

 **Jdotlaw:** A L E X A N D E R  
H E R C U L E S  
L A F A Y E T T E  
MY ALEXANDER

 **Alexmill:** MY LAURENS  
it took u long enough goddamn

They got downstairs eventually, but the dinner table had already been cleared, and Paul's mother was putting the dishes away into the dishwasher. She turned when she heard them come in; her smile softened at the sight of their smudged makeup and faintly giddy expression.

“Your sister said your roommates at this college are people from your old life.”

They nodded, smiling again, holding their phone so tightly in their hand they could almost hear it cracking. It was irrational, yes, but they didn't want to let go, just in case- well, it seemed too good to be true, but it _was_ true! Their friends were alive!

“Yes,” they replied, nodding. Their mother crossed the room to pull them into a hug, something they didn't think they could ever have enough of; Marie Louise Jolie de la Riviere had not exactly been a strong maternal presence, and they were forever grateful that they had kept their family this time around. “I'm sad to leave you, but I'm so glad I get to see them again.”

“I understand, dear,” she replied, stepping back a few moments later. “Go on, wash your face. There were leftovers I can heat up for you.”

* * *

Paul fell asleep reading and re-reading the messages on their phone, a smile on their face. John was very careful to take screencaps of all the text in the conversation before deleting the messages in his phone, just in case his father decided to invade his privacy again in the few weeks he had left before leaving; still, he fell asleep feeling like nothing in the world could stop them now. Hercules liked to knit before he went to bed (the beanies he made were significantly better than the ones in stores, in his opinion), and hummed the entire time, smiling at the yarn, leaving his parents to comment on his good mood. Alex didn't sleep that night, of course, but he was just as happy as the other three.

He couldn't _wait_.

* * *

**Alexmill:** I mean  
columbia is a big campus  
and orientation is  
I mean what if we doNT SEE EACH OTHER  
UNTIL MO V E I N

 **Thefrenchiestfry:** mon ami  
I have waited two hundred years for this  
a week will not kill us again

 **Hercmuel:** unless you run into burr

 **Jdotlaw:** bro

 **Thefrenchiestfry:** bro

 **Alexmill:** b r o  
do nOT JOKE about aaron burr  
I will punch him if I find him  
just you wait

**Author's Note:**

> So, that's that. Like I said before, go check out kookookarli's 177(6) universe if you haven't already, 'cause it's great.
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated!
> 
> Come find me on Tumblr @floraobsidian


End file.
